Democrats ask Bush to intervene in dispute
White House says it won't get involved over remap issue
By GEORGE KUEMPEL / The Dallas Morning News
08/11/2003
ALBUQUERQUE, N.M. – The 11 Democratic senators encamped here have called on President Bush to intervene in the impasse over congressional redistricting, saying he alone has the power to end "this embarrassing chapter in Texas history."
The debacle, they said in a letter Friday that they individually signed, is damaging the former Texas governor's credibility as a bipartisan leader. And, they said, his top adviser, Karl Rove, is largely to blame.
They also criticized U.S. House Majority Leader Tom DeLay of Sugar Land, the driving force behind the effort to redraw district lines, and Republicans Gov. Rick Perry and Lt. Gov. David Dewhurst, who the Democrats say are doing his bidding in Texas.
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Their actions "cast a shadow over your legacy here. ... Your continued silence is being interpreted by thoughtful Americans as complicity or as tacit approval," the senators wrote.
"We ... request an immediate public announcement of your opposition to this unfair and shameful power grab."
A Bush spokesman said Sunday that the president did not plan to become involved in the dispute.
"That's a matter for the state of Texas to address," said Jimmy Orr, a White House spokesman in Crawford, where Mr. Bush is vacationing.
David Beckwith, a spokesman for Mr. Dewhurst, said the allegation that his boss has acted on Mr. Rove's instructions is false and nothing but a publicity ploy by the Democrats.
"It's particularly ironic," he said, "since the Democratic National Committee is increasingly calling the tune out in Albuquerque."
Kathy Walt, the governor's spokeswoman, called the Democrats' claims "ludicrous."
"It's just to deflect from the fact that they walked off the job in violation of their oaths of office," she said.
Mr. Rove could not be reached for comment Sunday.
Mr. Perry, Mr. Dewhurst and Mr. DeLay have said that congressional districts should be realigned to reflect Texas voting patterns. Republicans control all top statewide elected offices in Texas; Democrats hold 17 of the state's 32 U.S. House seats.
Sen. Leticia Van de Putte of San Antonio, chairwoman of the Senate Democratic Caucus, did not return a telephone call Sunday. Sen. Gonzalo Barrientos of Austin said the letter is just another of the group's on-going efforts to find a solution to the standoff.
"We don't hang our hat on one item, on one lawsuit, on one rally. We're working on all fronts," he said.
Last week, the Democrats and Republican leadership traded legal filings. The Democrats went to state District Court in Austin seeking an order that would allow them to return to the state without facing arrest or confinement in the Senate chambers. Republicans asked the state Supreme Court to compel minority party members to return to the Capitol to perform their legislative duties.
The exiled senators, addressing via telephone several thousand supporters who rallied Saturday at the Capitol in Austin to cheer them on, called on the president to intervene.
On Sunday, the lawmakers spent a quiet day, their 14th here since fleeing Austin to deny the Senate a quorum and halt work on the GOP-backed redistricting plan.
They were to meet later in the evening to regroup and discuss, among other things, their response to the state Supreme Court motion filed last week by Attorney General Greg Abbott on behalf of the governor and lieutenant governor.
The Democrats' response is due Monday.
In their letter, the senators said the Hispanics and blacks who make up much of the Texas voting population are "deeply offended and angry at the Perry-DeLay [redistricting] scheme."
"There is even some belief among our constituents that the Perry-DeLay plan is the first step in a national Republican plan to weaken or repeal the Voting Rights Act in 2006 and to further secure Congressman DeLay's undefeatable majority for his expected speakership race.
"This flies in the face of your national Latino outreach programs," the letter continues. "With all due respect, Mr. President, you cannot have it both ways."
The senators also said they believe that Mr. Dewhurst was acting on instructions from Mr. Rove and the governor when he abandoned the Senate's long-held two-thirds rule, which prompted the walkout. The rule, requiring a two-thirds vote of Senate members to take up a bill, was shelved by the lieutenant governor to ease consideration of redistricting.
The 11 Democrats had the votes to block the GOP's bill under that rule.
Without elaborating, the Democrats wrote: "We have received information that your Chief Advisor, Karl Rove, has played a significant behind-the-scenes role in this divisive and unfortunate overreach of legislative power."
Staff writer Scott Farwell in Crawford, Texas, contributed to this report.
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